Michael Lawrence Photography Blog

When you're about to get married the only thing better then being best friends with a photographer is being best friends with a photographer's spouse! So when one of my wife's best friends wanted a unique engagement session, we went all out. As a matter of fact we shot two sessions! Like the old saying goes " happy wife, Happy life". This one was inspired by the movie "The Notebook." Danielle and Greg are one of my favorite couples, these two are beautiful, funny and fearless!

Lately I’ve come down with a bad case of wanderlust. Recently, the desire to just grab my camera and jump in my car had become pretty overwhelming, so I called up two other photographers and shared this idea I had about shooting at the Salton Sea. At first, they thought I was a little nuts, since the Salton Sea is basically an abandoned resort town, but I told them to trust me. I had a vision!!

Well unfortunately our model for the day fell through, so I convinced one of my fellow photographers to step in front of the lens for a change. Instead of shooting, Rachele got to try her hand at modeling for the day. When we arrived on location she was still a little confused (after all, why we would purposely leave beautiful San Diego for a place that smelled as bad as the Salton Sea?) Relax! I have a vision!

Luckily, Rachele told me she trusted my vision. She then also made sure to inform me that she had told a number of people where exactly where she was going and with whom, just in case. Trust and vision only get you so far, ha ha.

Rachele’s trust paid off and we got some amazing images! The Salton Sea isn't a traditional setting for portraits, but it does have an eery beauty all its own. Even though we all need to get a tetanus shot now, it was totally worth it!

Aside from Will and Kate, how many people are lucky enough to celebrate their wedding day in an actual castle?!?

Well last Saturday, Lianne and Teddy channeled their inner "royal" and tied the knot at the most beautiful castle I have ever been to! (Ok, full disclosure, it's the only castle I have ever been to, but I promise, it was still pretty epic!!) Their fairytale nuptials took place at San Diego County's very own Mt. Woodson Castle in beautiful, rustic, Ramona, California. The historic castle was built in 1921 as a private residence and today, this multi-level, twenty-seven room 12,000 square foot estate serves as one of San Diego County's most unique wedding venues. It was the perfect setting for Lianne and Teddy to say their "I do's!"